This is for all registered members with access to the forum. (This is everyone who subscribes to Region Services).
Online modeling competitions and challenges will be announced here.

Forum rules
This is for all registered members with access to the forum. (This is everyone who subscribes to Region Services).
Online modeling competitions and challenges will be announced here.
Members must report and document their modeling progress here.
Winners will usually be chosen by one of the following two (or a combination of the two)
-NMRA-BR BOD members
-Via a voting Poll on this forum by the membership.

At the end of each competition, the entries will be moved to the relevant modeling section to facilitate access of the general public.

OK I know I am too early for the 2016/2017 Winter building challenge but I just could not wait any longer and besides I had a request from a Canadian friend who has asked if I could build a Bar Mills HO "Shipyard Brewing Company" kit for him.

My friend wants the signage to be replaced with Whitstones after a famous fish and chip restaurant in Shepton Mallet that he really likes to go to when he visits, so Whitstone's Brewing Company it is.

So here you go - I will try and explain a step by step building process and hopefully inspire others to do the same...!!! - it really is quite easy and most of all it is FUN...!

The first step is to OPEN the box and look inside, and yes it looks like all of the pieces are in there somewhere.

Please read through the instructions...

OK so you don't like reading the manual but in this case it is a good idea to familiarise yourself with all of the "bits" in the box.

Next, spread all of the component parts out taking care not to remove any otherwise you will not be able to find them - there are some very small parts and they are difficult to find! Plus it is much easier to paint parts that are attached.

In the instructions it suggests that all of the wall sections should be reinforced with framing to "stiffen" them up because as you can see they are quite thin and when you apply any paint to them and I generally like to use Vallejo acrylic paints because they are of good quality and can be applied by brush or airbrush they do tend to warp if not framed first.

The kit includes a good supply of stripwood for framing and the instructions also say that you can use any additional stripwood that you might have for the framing process.

And it does not have to be so fancy as it will not be seen and only serves to add strength and prevent the thin walls from "curling" in the paint process.

I highly recommend using "Super Phatic" glue instead of any other wood glue. The reason for this is that this glue is thin, non-fuming low odour, water clean up plus it penetrates into the grain of the wood much further than other glues and provides better joints on balsa, ply, GRP, plastic hinges, foam and carbon fibre. It is simply perfect for very strong joints on even the smallest parts.

In the Bar Mills instructions it says to use a primer to seal the wood surfaces prior to painting.

In the past I have used Halfords Grey Primer because it is relatively inexpensive and is easy to use.

And in this case I am using it as the final colour coat for most of the detail parts like the doors and accent walls etc.

When using this type of aerosol paint be careful and use light passes and remember that the intent is only to seal the wood and act as a primer. Don't soak the wood with heavy wet coats of paint it just is not necessary.

A nice light dusting is all that is required.

The kit includes self adhesive tar paper and roofing shingles (tiles for the Brits)

Note: In colder climates like Canada and the northern US states roofs are generally covered with asphalt or bitumen based roofing materials instead of clay tiles. This is because clay tiles cannot withstand the extreme temperature differences from very cold to very hot whereas bitumen roofing material called shingles and cedar roofing called shakes are not adversely affected.

Painting the Walls in Blue

I am using Vallejo paints which I can highly recommend for the quality of the paint colours which can be airbrushed or brush painted and they can be easily mixed to create different shades of the base colour.

I am using a mix of Vallejo No. 839 Ultramarine which is quite a vibrant blue and to tone it done I am mixing in Vallejo No. 309 Periscopes which is a green hued blue colour. The resulting mix in my opinion is close to the type of colour typically found on painted structures in New England.

Applying the mixture with a paint brush and flowing the paint horizontally along the lines of the scribed siding gives the effect of some weathering on the individual boards. If I had wanted an even uniform coating of paint over the entire surface I would have used an airbrush but here I wanted to be able to pick out individual painted boards. This wall will be weathered further after the windows have been inserted into their openings.

This photo shows that even after primer and a top coat of the blue colour has been applied the walls are nice and square and have not curled.

Some walls have been left in the grey primer colour and will receive some weathering in due course.

The quality of the parts in this kit are very fine and the detail is excellent. Here the loading dock components have been assembled.

This shows how the various parts start to come together. The structure is a series of sub assemblies. This is a good method of building as you can see some progress along the way.

Attaching a sheet of 0.060" styrene to the back of the building. The supplied card is very flimsy and even with bracing it is likely to warp with changes in Canadian humidity, since this building will be situated in a Canadian environment it will need to withstand drastic changes in environment, something that we don't really experience in the UK.

The building front and stairway are attached to the main structure

Roofing is applied

My friend wanted the name of the building changed to something which would remind him of his trips to England and a certain Fish and Chip restaurant in Shepton Mallet called "Whitstones" - so we have a name for the building - "Whitstones Brewing Company" hence the name of this series of articles.

The lettering was done using Photoshop and printed on to glossy photo paper

I like to use Tamiya weathering chalks to dull down the sign and show some age

And the final result

Other signs were made in the same way and then glued on to the structure